A Walking Shadow Fall Beneath the Ashes
by sbyamibakura
Summary: Mid-S3. Sylar/Elle, Nathan/Peter, Adam/Hiro, etc. After the Eclipse, the Heroes and Villains alike try to piece things back together.
1. Part One

A Walking Shadow: Fall Beneath The Ashes

By: PhoenixJustice

Disclaimer: Heroes is owned by Tim Kring. I only own this story and make no profit from this.

Warning: T for sexual content, slash, incest, violence, language, etc

Pairing(s): Sylar/Elle, Nathan/Peter, Matt/Daphne, past!Claude/past!HRG and Adam/Hiro if you squint, etc

Setting: Post Episode 11- "The Eclipse, Part Two", spoilers from the whole series.

Summary: After the Eclipse, the Heroes and Villains alike try to piece things back together.

Flashbacks are (usually) in _italic, _as are other languages, when spoken.

A/N:...Things almost always turn out WAYYYYYY differently than I expect, when I start writing something, lol.

We are always concerned with changing the world. That is just an escape. I have always felt that people who are concerned with others changing are really escaping from their own frustrations, their own conflicts, their own anxieties, their own anguish. They are focusing their minds on something else, because they cannot change themselves. It is easier to try to change the world than to change oneself. --Osho

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Part One-

"And differing judgments serve but to declare that truth lies somewhere, if we knew but where."

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

The whole situation was very, very surreal; to watch herself as a baby getting handed over to her father. She had traveled through time; this was also very surreal. She glances at the person who had dragged her here to begin with. She knew who he was; Hiro Nakamura. But she had never talked with him before and had only briefly met him at Kirby Plaza.

He pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose as he watches the sight in front of them, apparently unaware of her looking.

"So," she starts. "Why are we her--"

The rest of what she was going to say gets muffled by his hand over her mouth. He waits until she looks like she was going to be quiet and lets go. He puts a finger to his mouth again and points back to the scene in front of them. A young boy sitting at the table pushes his glasses up in the same exact way Hiro just had. ...Was that young boy Hiro? Had Hiro been present at the time she had been handed over to her father?

He wondered just why this moment was so important and how it related to him getting his memories back. He was afraid. He was scared of just what he would remember; it felt like, just under the surface of consciousness, there were memories that would make him feel anguish again. As if he had something happen to him, or done something to someone else, which caused a lot of pain to him and to others.

In front of them, his father hands baby Claire over to the other man.

"_And if she ever shows any sign of a power--you will immediately hand her back over to us; do you understand?"_

His father, ever authorative. He felt the pangs of loss from his father's death when at the same time, it felt just like yesterday that his father sat at the edge of his bed and told him the Kensei stories.

"_Of course, Kaito-san," _replied the other man. He glances at the squirming bundle in his arms as Kaito walks over to the glass table where his younger self was sitting, playing a handheld game and apparently oblivious to all the goings on.

"_Hiro,"_ said Kaito, sharply. _"I am going to speak to Bennet inside for a moment. You are to remain out here, understood?"_

Young Hiro nods absently, never looking up from his game, legs kicking under the table. "Yes, tou-san."

Kaito nods in satisfaction and he gestures for Bennet to follow him inside, with Bennet awkwardly trying to situate baby Claire in his arms, obviously unused to handling an infant. Claire felt herself smothering a smile at his bumbling. The two men leave and Hiro and Claire stand there for a few moments, after moving to make sure they weren't seen by the men, watching Young Hiro play his game. Nothing else was happening.

"_I don't understand,"_ Hiro murmured. _"What else is supposed to happen? I don't remember this time, obviously...but how can being here help me get back my memory?"_

Meanwhile, while Hiro tries to think of what he could do, and Claire trying to figure out just what Hiro was saying--she didn't know japanese!--Young Hiro finally looks up from his game, brows furrowing and glances around.

"_Hello?" _Young Hiro says suddenly. No one was there. _"I thought I heard something get knocked over..."_

"_You've got keen ears, kid."_

Young Hiro, his older counterpart, and Claire all stare in shock as a man suddenly appears, standing in front of the table. His hair was slicked back and he wore a suit; stubble was starting to slowly creep up on his face. He moves his shoulders around a bit, as if unused to the suit, whereas Claire thought a suit was practically a second skin to her father. He looked familiar to her, but she couldn't place where. It felt as if something was missing from her memory--and there probably was; it wouldn't surprise her if many memories had been taken from her--she obviously wouldn't remember them being taken.

"_Claude-san," _Hiro mutters suddenly, causing Claire to look over at him. He didn't appear to realize what he said.

"Claude?" She repeats.

"_Wow! You are Invisible Man!"_ Exclaimed Young Hiro suddenly, dropping his game to the table as he raises his arms up.

The said invisible man grins at the child. _"Yeah, I am. I'm Claude. And I know who you are, Hiro-san. I work for your father."_

"_You work for tou-san?"_ Young Hiro asked questioningly._ "Does he know you can turn invisible?"_

"_Oh yes he does; he has many Special people who work for him, and many regular folks like Bennet as well. One of us, one of them."_

"Why are you here? Is there something I can help with?" Young Hiro asked eagerly.

Claude starts to shake his head but stops himself. _"Actually there is." _He turns around and pulls something out from behind a large flowerpot. It was a teddy bear. _"Give this to Bennet for little Claire would you? I doubt the man will give her anything of the sort--at least in the beginning. The man forgets sometimes what it is to live for something besides the job."_ He hands the bear to Young Hiro, muttering under his breath; _"I just hope he learns to remember."_

Young Hiro nods and holds onto the bear. Claude suddenly glances over in Hiro and Claire's direction and his eyes widen. Young Hiro glances over when Claude takes a step forward.

"_Maybe we should head out there?" _Hiro suggested to Claire. Claire just shakes her head, obviously not understanding what he was saying.

"_He said 'maybe we should head out there.'"_ Claude says suddenly, eyeing them with interest. Claire glances at Hiro who nods and she shrugs and follows Hiro out to the balcony, unable to think of anything else; they _were _here for a reason...apparently, and having Hiro teleport them out would just defeat the purpose. Plus, she was intrigued now. The bear thing...

Claude glances at the two of them and frown works its way to his face when he takes a better look at Hiro. He glances at Young Hiro, who was looking at them all with a bemused look on his face, and back to Hiro.

"And who might you two be?" Claude asked, eyeing them with a bit of suspicion. "Because you, my asian friend, look an _awful _lot like Hiro over here," He jerks a thumb over at Young Hiro. At Hiro's confused look he repeats what he said in Japanese.

"_I'm--" _Hiro glances at his younger counterpart. _"My name is--"_

"_Hiro!"_

Everybody jumps at the sudden sound of Kaito's voice.

"_Inside! Now!"_

Young Hiro jumps out of his chair, grabbing his handheld, clutching the bear and gives them all one last look before heading inside.

"_I'm Hiro Nakamura." _Hiro says in a rush.

Claude's eyebrows raise. _"Really now? How about that. So it really is genetic after all. Do you have the same power as your father?"_

This time Hiro's eyebrows raise. _"My tou-san has a power?"_

"Hello," Claire interrupted suddenly, sounding a bit miffed. "Clue the girl in who doesn't understand Japanese would you?"

Claude turns to look at her. "And you are?"

"I'm Claire Bennet."

Claude lets out a low whistle. "And this day just gets better and better. So, Claire, what are you and Hiro doing here, and why? Are you a time-traveler?"

She shakes her head. "No, that's not me--that's him." She points to Hiro, who looks bemused, pointing at himself questioningly. "I...regenerate."

"Like Adam Monroe..." Claude mutters.

Hiro visibly starts at that name, taking a step forward, looking at Claude with almost desperate eyes.

"_Adam?_" Hiro says questioningly.

"_Yeah, it's this bloke I met down in Level 5 one day, I found out he could regenerate too; he showed me." _ He repeats this in English for Claire. _"He said he'd been down there for a very long time, years and years, but he still looked so young. I came down a few times afterward to talk with him; I'm the invisible man, so I could slip in there easy as could be."_

"Actually..." Claude's brows furrow. "I think there was something he told me...something about betrayal; said he'd been betrayed by the person who he cared about most in the world."

Hiro lets out a low sound in his throat.

"Hiro?" Claire asks questioningly.

Hiro suddenly lets out a loud yell, dropping to his knees and clutching his head.

"No, no," Hiro says suddenly in English, eyes shut in pain. "I didn't--I didn't mean to! I'm sorry, Kensei! So sorry--"

Footsteps suddenly were heard, coming their way. Claude whips his head around towards them.

"Get out of here now! Hurry!" He barks.

Claire pulls one of Hiro's arms from his head. "Hiro! Come on! We've got to get out of here!"

He just lets out a low moan.

"Hiro!"

He stands up, eyes opening. He looked in pain and sadness was easily visible on his face, tears running down his face. "I remember...everything."

She glances at Claude who gives a small little smile.

"See you later then, Claire-bear. Go!"

Her last glimpses were of Claude and the approaching of Kaito Nakamura as she and Hiro teleport away; she thought Kaito might have seen her face as they teleported away.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

He glances down at her, having stopped in the middle of what he had been doing. Blood trickles down her forehead, but miraculously it heals up, as if she had been Claire with her powers, and not Elle with what she had.

"...Elle?"

She opens her eyes and looks up at him. She smiles.

"...Feels nice to be back," she says weakly.

He lets out a bark of laughter as he leans down and kisses her.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

She awakens, eyes wide. Something had happened; something major, to cause about this sudden change. Things were not going exactly as she had saw them. And while stuff like that happened on occasion, never to _this _degree.

"Hello, mother."

She turns her head quickly, gasping.

Sylar smiles at her, glancing at the blonde woman who walks next to him, grabbing his arm and smiling at him, before turning to look at Angela.

"I believe you know, Elle. Though...not so much the way she is now. Things have changed, in many ways."

He grins.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

"Something happened in the future, a future which does not exist anymore. But so many things have happened to mess with time and the sudden direct changing of the future by many important events has caused a rift. This allowed Elle to remember everything, including her other powers. Time is trying to repair itself; to heal the large damage it sustained in such a short time. It also will make everyone remember her who know her; those who were made to forget her as she was before, with her powers, and possibly many of the events that have happened that no one remembers now. Just like how her memories have returned even after you _ordered _the Haitian to remove her memories, and ours." His voice was calm but the slightest edge in it; the calm made her shiver worse than if he had screamed at her.

"I did what I what had to be done," she replies flatly. "It had to be done; she was too dangerous to keep around as she was. Seeing her powers develop like they had...it was the only way, save killing her."

Elle remains eerily silent, not like Angela remembered her, even with memories flooding in her; perhaps her time away did some sort of good, but her presence back was a danger.

"You _knew _what she meant to me and you _still _went behind my back and did it anyway!" His eyes flash, his temper starting to show itself.

"And you dare complain to me. It has only been weeks since I have done so, hardly any reason to complain so loudl--"

"It wasn't _weeks_," Elle finally speaks up, her voice low and barely checked emotion. "It was years. _Years._ I got sent back; I lost my memory of everything and I had to relive... _everything_ again, well _most _things anyway; there was still a lot I didn't know. And after all of those years, I finally remember everything and that...was because of the rift and _only _because of that..."

She shakes her head, pushing her blonde hair out of her face to look at Angela, her face unusually serious. "I suppose I can thank you for one thing though; all that time let me grow up, since I had to do it the hard way." She laughs with a bit of bitterness. "I get my memories back, but then what do you know! My brain floods with too many sudden memories and so I start to overload on electricity...you know...my body's way of compensating after all I had been through. Like how you _made me forget Gabriel_," she said snarkily. "And suddenly I found myself with many bits and pieces of memory that I had forgotten. I remembered everything that had happened, and what I could do." She lets out a breath. "If Claire hadn't gone with me to Pinehearst when she did and I saw Sylar...who knows what would have happened. That was the turning point that helped me remember."

"Better that you hadn't remembered at all." Angela replies coolly, ignoring the glares from Sylar and Elle. "You _know_ that you are a danger. You can _resurrect _people, Elle. Well and truly, more than regenerative blood can do. And not only that, but other things as well. That makes you a liability. Were you to get in the wrong hands..."

"And who says your hands aren't the wrong ones?" Replied Elle. "You might be better than Arthur, but you also wanted to blow up New York City, so that doesn't exactly make you much better. And _Arthur _might have went along with your little ruse that Gabriel is your son when he isn't, but _you _are the one who started it; all so you could manipulate him, since you couldn't manipulate Peter and Nathan anymore."

"Oh, but don't worry, _Mother_," Sylar says sarcastically. "We're on your side in this--Arthur needs to be stopped, after all."

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

She blinks rapidly as her eyes take in where they had ended up; a comic book shop. The shop guys behind the counter's eyes bulge as she and Hiro suddenly appear.

"_Hiro!_ _You're back!_" Said Ando. _"How--how did it go?"_

"I remember," Hiro says tonelessly, in English, not looking at anything in particular as Claire moves away from him and looks around at everyone. A blonde chick, the two guys behind the counter,one with a beard, one without and...

"Matt Parkman?" She says incredulously. What were the odds that she would meet him again?

"Claire," said Matt, looking just as surprised to see her.

"Bennet's kid?" Said the blonde girl.

"Holy crap, dude, it's Claire!" Said one of the comic book guys, the beardless one.

"Anyway, we should go," said Matt. "Daphne, I know what you said before, but I really don't think that splitting up would be the best idea--"

"It'd be faster," argued Daphne. "I can get there like 'that!'" She snaps her fingers.

"Wait," said Ando. "Hiro could just teleport you to where you need to go."

Hiro was silent.

"Wait, what am I missing?" Asked Claire, confused.

Ando turns to her. "We need to find the messenger who received Isaac Mendez's last drawings; he could paint the future. It's very important that we get those."

"Well, _I_ need to get back home." She glances over at Hiro who was still eerily quiet. "There's a lot I need to talk about with my parents; so if you could just teleport me back..."

"I want to find Adam," Hiro says suddenly. "I--I need to talk with him."

"Adam Monroe?" Daphne asks. "He's...he's dead. I saw what happened to him. I was about to leave Pinehearst when I heard screams; I ran up and saw Arthur Petrelli drain him of his powers."

The color drains out of Hiro's face; he looked utterly crushed. "No! You must be mistaken! You're lying! He can heal--"

"Hiro, the man had lived for over four hundred years. His powers were the reason he still lived." Said Matt, reasonably. "If they were taken away..."

Hiro just shakes his head in denial. "No! I don't believe you! He is stronger than that! He wouldn't die--he _can't_--not before I tell him..."

He suddenly teleports away without another word.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

He lands on the balcony of what used to be Isaac Mendez's loft, facing out towards the city, the first place he had thought of.

"I've been waiting for you, carp."

Hiro whips around and his eyes widen.

Adam smiles warmly at him.

"I've missed you, Hiro."

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

I hope you enjoyed this!

Let me know what you thought!

--PhoenixJustice


	2. Part Two

A Walking Shadow: Fall Beneath The Ashes

By: PhoenixJustice

Disclaimer: Heroes is owned by Tim Kring. I only own this story and make no profit from this.

Warning: T for sexual content, slash, incest, violence, language, etc

Pairing(s): Sylar/Elle, Nathan/Peter, Matt/Daphne, Adam/Hiro, etc

Setting: Post Episode 11- "The Eclipse, Part Two", spoilers from the whole series.

Summary: After the Eclipse, the Heroes and Villains alike try to piece things back together.

Flashbacks are (usually) in _italic, _as are other languages, when spoken.

"Thought moves through the present to the future and back again, like a restless animal tied to a post. It moves within its own radius, narrow or wide, but it is never free of its own shadow."

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Part Two-

"Fortunate is the man who knows how to read the signs of the times, for that man shall escape many misfortunes, or at least be prepared to understand the blow."

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

"The question is...how are we going to find this guy?" said Daphne. "There has to be thousands upon thousand of people in New York City."

Matt ponders over this for a few moment, as does Claire and Ando, (and the two comic book guys as well--they were strangely helpful, and kind of cool, though Matt felt no need to say that out loud) though Ando was obviously worried about Hiro.

"And how I can get back home." said Claire. "Hopefully Hiro will come back soon, but...he just left out of the blue, so he can be anywhere..."

"Well..." Matt says slowly. "...I think I have a way that we can track him down; that is, if we can get a picture or his name or something."

"Is there anything in the 9th Wonders that might help?" Ando asked the comic guys, but they both shake their head.

"Like I said," said the bearded comic guy. "I heard about the messenger from a guy, who heard it from another guy, who heard it from another guy--and I didn't hear anything about a name or anything like that."

"Maybe there's a clue in Mendez's loft," suggested the beardless comic guy.

Daphne glances over at Matt who shakes his head. "Probably not; his loft has been converted into a lab by Suresh," replied Daphne. "He may have thrown everything out..."

"It's worth a shot though..." said Matt.

Claire takes all of this in, intrigued by everything, but worried about her parents, wanting to get over to them, but having no way at the moment. An idea strikes her suddenly. She walks over to the comic guys. "Can I use your phone?"

They both nod, apparently still in awe at everything and point her to a phone over on the other counter. She heads behind the counter and picks up the phone, wondering why she didn't think about calling sooner--but then again a lot of stuff was happening in a short period of time--and dials the number to her house.

The phone was picked up on the first ring.

"Claire, is that you?!"

"Yeah, it's me, mom," she says quietly, listening to her mother's frantic voice.

"Are you alright?! Where are you?!"

"I'm fine, really. I'm at...a comic shop. I got teleported here. I'll try to make it back as soon as possible, but I'm kind of far away right now--"

"Claire--" Her dad had taken the phone. "Are you sure you're okay? If there is something going on, or someone bad is there, just say 'everything's fine, dad.'"

"No, nothing bad's going on." she says, glancing over to where everyone was still talking amongst themselves. She suddenly blurts out. "I knew Claude, didn't I? He's the one who started the bear thing--you made me forget about him."

It was silent on the other line for a very long time. Finally, her father speaks quietly into the phone. "How do you know about him?"

So it _was _true. "I met him. In the past. That's where Hiro teleported me to originally before sending me here. I saw...I saw the day that I was handed over to you by Hiro's dad."

A pause. Then; "...Claude wasn't there."

"He was. Kaito ran onto the balcony as me and Hiro were teleporting away; he saw Claude telling us to go. ...He called me Claire-bear."

"Claire, I'm sorry I had to make you forget him, but I--"

"Save it," Claire interrupts, but she softens her tone. "You can...tell me about it later. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Claire, wait--"

She hangs up the phone and heads back over to the others.

"So...I guess we should head to New York then. I never _did _get to see much of the city--"

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

He stands there for a few long moments, glancing up at the dark sky, upset at his brother for going back to their father. He knew what kind of monster their father was, he _knew _and he _still _went. It pissed Peter off to no end. Not only that, but he left him here, in the forests/jungle somewhere in Haiti. Oh yes, but he gave him a _phone_ to call someone to pick him up.

Which might have helped...if the phone actually worked! It was dead; no service, no ring-tone..._nothing._

If he still had his powers, it wouldn't be a problem, but they had been s_tolen _from him by his, _their_, father.

A rustling noise behind him makes him whip around suddenly, and his eyes widen at the sight: Sylar and Elle stood side-by-side and smile at him.

"Gabriel_? _Elle_? _What are you--" His blood runs cold. "Did dad send you here--?"

He starts to take a step back, but Sylar holds up a hand.

"No, not at all. I s_wear_, Peter." Sylar added at Peter's skeptical look. "But there is something you need to _remember_."

Peter's brows furrow. He glances at Elle, looking into her eyes and suddenly...he remembered... many things.

"Shit," gasped Peter. He remembered conversations with Elle, with Sylar, seeing Elle's powers develop...many other things, including the fact that they had found out that Sylar wasn't really his brother, but that he still cared about the man...

Elle lets out a laugh. "Right? I'm glad you remember."

"I know I'm not the best person to go after my dad with," said Peter to Sylar. "Since I don't have my powers back and all, but there is still a lot I can do--"

"Oh yeah," replied Sylar. "About that...Elle here, says she can give you back what you lost."

Peter looks over at her with a bit of disbelief in his eyes. She nods fervently.

"Definitely. Though it'll be draining...and Arthur might sense my presence, as I'm going to take them from him. It'll limit what I can do myself in the future, but you need your powers back; they belong to_ you._"

Peter stands there, bracing himself for whatever was about to happen, wondering if it would feel as bad as his powers getting taken away had.

It wasn't as bad: it was worse. He screams as he gets slammed with the full force of all his powers slamming back into him all at once. He glows bright white for a long moment, still screaming as the powers continue their way back into his body. Finally, things ebb down and he shivers in what could only be described as pleasure as so many feelings flood through him, so much so that he drops to his knees, shivering until things _finally _get under control.

He gets up, still feeling a little shaky and looks up to see Sylar grab Elle as she starts to fall back, visibly exhausted. But she smiles, as does Sylar, as they look at him.

"I think that you're going to have to be the one to get us out of here this time, Peter." she murmurs, eyes closing.

Sylar and Peter laugh, the laughter echoing in the dark jungle as they all teleport away.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

He rushes over to embrace the man before he realizes what he was doing.

"They said...they said you were," Hiro choked out, clinging to the man. Regardless of all the things the man had done, or how it had been Hiro's fault in the first place...those things were forgotten in that moment. He _loved _this man; he knew this now, without a doubt.

"I know. I know, carp." murmured Adamsoothingly, embracing Hiro back. "They were right. I _was _dead. But, not anymore."

"How--?"

Adam pulls back a little, still holding onto Hiro, smiling at him.

"Well--" Adam starts.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

He looks around at his surroundings. They looked _very _different than the dirty, dark, dank lab that he had spoken to Mohinder to, in the future. It looked...like how Isaac had his loft before, though a few of the lab things remained against a few of the walls. There was even the mural of New York blowing up on the floor, as there was before.

"It took...a lot of work to clean up the place. But I wasn't about to paint surrounded by cobwebs and...whatever that stuff on the wall was."

Peter looks over in shock to see Isaac Mendez standing there, smiling faintly at him. Isaac glances over Peter's shoulder to look at Sylar and Elle briefly.

"Although...I have to admit, it took me awhile to actually listen to what Sylar had to say and not try to strangle him with my bare hands. I mean, he _did _kill me after all. But now I know about the hunger and everything...still sucked being dead though."

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Adam stops what he was about to say and glances over, looking into the window of the loft. He turns back to Hiro, smiling.

"I think I can give you your answer now, carp."

He leads Hiro inside of the building, down the stairs and through the open door.

Hiro gasps at the sight.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

He picks up the sketchbook and sits down in a chair. He closes his eyes, concentrating intently.

A long moment passes. He opens his eyes, narrowing his eyes as he sees the still blank page.

"Something has interveined..." He says quietly.

He looks over his shoulder.

"Will it hurt my chances?" asked the man standing behind him.

"No....no, Nathan, there are still many things that can be accomplished. This is merely a speed bump towards the road of your succession." Arthur says calmly.

Tracy looks up at Nathan, holding onto his arm, and smiles.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

I hope that you all enjoyed this!

Let me know what you thought!

--PhoenixJustice


	3. Part Three

A Walking Shadow: Fall Beneath The Ashes

By: PhoenixJustice

Disclaimer: Heroes is owned by Tim Kring. I only own this story and make no profit from this.

Warning: T for sexual content, slash, incest, violence, language, etc

Pairing(s): Sylar/Elle, Nathan/Peter, Matt/Daphne, past!Claude/past!HRG and Adam/Hiro, Plaude if you, squint and Adam/Peter if you REALLY squint, etc

Setting: Post Episode 11- "The Eclipse, Part Two", spoilers from the whole series.

Summary: After the Eclipse, the Heroes and Villains alike try to piece things back together.

Flashbacks are (usually) in _italic, _as are other languages, when spoken.

"The real fear has not even begun yet." –Rose, the Legend of Dragoon

~*~ ~*~ ~* ~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Part Three-

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards."

_~*~ ~*~_ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Hiro stands there, frozen; part of him screaming at him to run away, part of him screaming to defeat the bad guys (he thought he had teleported Sylar and the girl far enough away!), part of him in shock and confusion at seeing what must be an illusion of Isaac Mendez; it had to be an illusion, there was no other explanation for it...

"It's okay, Hiro." said the illusion of Isaac. "I know you must be confused, but--"

"Just come here," continued Peter, cutting Isaac off. "Everything will be explained, I promise. You're under no harm here."

Hiro's face must have been portraying utter disbelief (after all, Sylar was there!) because Adam grabs onto his arm, making Hiro's heart skip a few beats at the touch, and turns towards him.

"It's alright, Hiro," Adam said softly. "I promise it is. I'm not leading you into a lion's den; I just want you to remember the truth."

Hiro looks into the former Sword Saint's gaze for a long moment and nods finally, walking down the steps and into a potential lion's den--whatever Adam may have said otherwise_._

_~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ _

He sits on the edge of the bed, head in his hands. She knew about Claude. Claire had seen Claude. Just the name of the invisible man makes his heart ache in his chest, an ache which he had tried to ignore for such a long time: Sandra didn't know about Claude, thankfully. Part of the many memories that she had had erased--for her own good, as he couldn't let her walk around suffering--were of Claude, Claude coming around the house, Claude giving Claire bears here and there, Claude calling her Claire-bear...so many other memories.

He remembered...many things about the man. He had always been so good to Claire, giving her bears from the different countries and places they had been to on missions, because he couldn't, because he couldn't get close to her, (was afraid to get close to her, because what if she was special? Then he would lose her. No, back then it had been better to stay distant as possible to keep from hurting too badly if she was taken away) he had been...wonderful, and that was the thing that hurt the most.

He'd do anything for his family, anything at all, loved his wife and his children dearly, but...he had never stopped loving Claude either. It hurt, even now. Seeing Claude, however briefly, those few months ago had been like opening a wound that had just started closing.

He wondered where the invisible man was now, and just what he was doing.

_~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ _

He better have been getting paid overtime for this! He didn't see why Elle couldn't just come and do it herself--then he remembered she said that she couldn't do as much as she could before, and would be able to do less, thanks to her restoring Peter's powers back to him by taking them from Arthur Petrelli.

He had met Arthur once, many years ago and didn't like the man from the start. He just gave off a really nasty vibe. It had been at Primatech; Kaito had been talking with Arthur in one of the offices when he and Noah (his jaw clenches at the name and tries to shrug it off) had come in, and had an impromptu introduction to Arthur Petrelli.

He holds back a sigh, not wanting to blow his cover. While he could turn invisible, it didn't mean that he didn't make noise. Thankfully the stealth he had learned over the years came in handy in cases such as this.

He sneaks past the guards in the hallway and nudges the door open just enough so he could slip through. He looks around at the room he was in; large, but looked small due to all the many computer, and other, systems in it. He grabs the slip of paper out his pocket and looks at it: to the untrained (he guess that meant him too) eye it just looked like a bunch of nonsense; a weird series of numbers and a few letters here and there. But apparently it actually had a function; which is why he was all the way out in bumfuck Nevada, some base that was very far out from any of the cities, or much less anything else.

But he knew what he was getting into, more or less. And he trusted Elle, like he trusted few people; she hadn't lied to him yet and he knew what it was like to be left in the dark for such a long time on something, and to be alone. He knew that she was, now, making up for lost time for having forgotten a part of herself that Angela Petrelli had had hidden away. It had been... months since that time, after the events of Kirby Plaza...

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Hiro walks over.

"Look at me, Hiro." said Elle softly.

He looks into her eyes...and he remembers. And he Sees what happened with her.

_~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ _

_She gasps. Her eyes widen in her face and she sits up, heart beating fiercely in her chest. She could smell the smoke, the heat of that fire as that tent blew up. Could feel the anguish in Hiro's body as it happened, the shock and anger in the one called Takezo Kensei. _

_Hiro and Kensei..._

_Who were they? Was it all a dream? She felt confused, for even the most realistic dream she had never even **compared **to that one..._

_She lays back down and closes her eyes, trying to fall back asleep, to forget the heat, the smoke, and the anger._

_~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ _

_She holds back a sob. Gabriel...no. **Sylar**. He had ceased to be Gabriel because of **her**. She holds back a surge of anger at how close he had gotten to the girl called Maya, regardless if it was fake or not, to get what he wanted...she didn't like it and she felt torn; angry at herself for still feeling for him, angry at herself because he was that way again because of her, and many other emotions swirled within her._

_These dreams...it had been so many days now. She still hesitated on calling it **visions **or anything like that, afraid that they were just dreams and that to call them anything more than that and be wrong...she couldn't handle that._

_She didn't talk about them to her father._

_She sits up, sighing. She supposed she should go and see Peter now...she felt bad about his imprisonment, for that's what it was, but what exactly could **she **do at this point? Electricity could only do so much, and if her father got the Haitian involved...poof! There went her powers while he was around._

_She frowns. Was she just thinking about defying her father and letting Peter escape?_

_She didn't look Peter in the eye the whole time she was there, just gave him his meds to take and left. She could feel his frown as she left, knowing that she wasn't her usually peppy self around him, quipping about something or another. She felt too distracted._

_Something happened though and she wasn't sure what; something made her stop and wait for a moment, silently. A few minutes passed, as if Peter was waiting for the coast to be clear, then she heard him speaking quietly. Not to himself, but someone next door. She caught the name 'Adam'. But that wasn't the shocking thing. It was the voice that spoke back; she had heard that voice before, in her dreams...Takezo Kensei._

_~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ _

_The dreams came more frequently, and she saw many things; things that had already happened (some that she didn't know about and some she did), things that were going on at that time and things that could happen in the future. It was never a certainty; the smallest thing could change the outcome of the future. The future wasn't set in stone._

_She spent less time around her father, wary around him after learning more things about his dealings. She frequented Peter's room more, though she usually found herself unable to say that much to him. He seemed to understand the difference in her though, and let her stay in there, only occasionally asking her what was going on or why she was acting so._

_She couldn't completely explain it to **herself**, so she definitely couldn't explain it to **him**, at least not right then. She felt...different. Not that she wasn't already different; she could use and control electricity after all, so that said enough by itself. But, no, this was...something else. She didn't know what it was, but there was **something**--_

_~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ _

_She sobs on the ground, tears falling onto the hard concrete. _

_"Elle, it had to be done," said her father placatingly. "We couldn't allow them to escape--"_

_"You didn't have to **kill** him!" she sobs. She didn't want to look over at his body on the floor, blood pooling from where his head had been sliced off. "Peter didn't deserve that! He isn't a bad man!" She glares up at her father, tears still streaking her face. "**You're **the bad one. If anyone deserves to live, it's him, not you! **He** **deserves to live!**"_

_She gasps as a rush of cool energy floods through her and outwards. Her father takes a step back. "Elle, your eyes--"_

_She didn't know it then, but they were solid white, as Isaac or Usutu's got when they painted the future. She hears a gasp behind her and turns around, her eyes widening._

_Peter sat up, rubbing at her neck, not a blemish on him. He looks into her eyes._

_"What did you just do?" he said quietly._

_~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ _

_She knew now that everything she had seen had been the truth; not dreams, but visions of things. Something was happening to her. She had **resurrected **Peter! How was that...possible? She looks up as her father rushes into her room._

_"Come on, Elle! Hurry up!"_

_"What?" she asks bewildered. She wondered if he was going to take her off somewhere to experiment on like she knew that other 'special' people had...as she had when she was younger, testing her limits. After what he had seen her do, she expected it of him. His response, however, surprises her._

_"Peter Petrelli has escaped with Adam Monroe. Come on!"_

_She stands up and follows him. Not to help him, but to see Peter and Adam in person; she had yet to see Adam up close, only seeing Kensei in her dreams. She splits up with her father and they take different directions. She remembers suddenly one of the visions she had before and hurries in the direction of the hospital. Peter was going to see his brother, and Adam was going to heal Nathan with his blood, as Nathan had been burnt up while carrying his brother into the sky as he was about to explode. To find out that they had been lovers as well was surprising (also surprisingly hot.)_

_She gets to the ground floor just as Peter and Adam come out. They notice her and start to run off. She follows after them; they were both pretty fast._

_"Wait!" She was starting to lose them. "**Stop I said!**"_

_She looks on in shock as they immediately still, both of them turning around to look at her, shock in their gazes, which had to mirror hers._

_"What did you just do?" said Adam incredulously. He glances at Peter. "I thought you said she used electricity."_

_"She does, but she also--"_

_She walks in front of them. "I do. But, I also uh...do other stuff too, apparently. Like making people freeze up. Uh..." she waves her hands around, trying to concentrate on them moving freely again. "Unfreeze?"_

_They visibly relax._

_"Look," she says, before they get the chance to do or say anything else. "I'm **not **here to capture you, but my father is and he has help. You have to run. I can stall who comes my way, but I can't do much more than that right now...I have to stay."_

_They nod and run off. She turns around and a moment later, her father comes running up to her._

_"There you are!" panted Bob. "Did you see them? They were supposed to have went this way--"_

_"Nope," she says, almost chipper sounding. "Didn't see hide or hair of them. I **did **see Peter's brother though. Neither one of them was there in the room with him."_

_~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ _

_She found out she could do many other things that day; teleport, paint the future, freeze things, control and use fire, regenerate, (as was the case when she had fallen out a window and broke both legs and an arm, which healed right up) pretty much what she wanted, as long as she could think of it. It could be very draining though, with each thing she did, so she limited what she did and didn't use it frivolously. The only thing that didn't seem to take anything out of her was her electric powers, seemingly because they were there first before this newest manifestation of...whatever she had now._

_She also found Sylar. In Isaac Mendez's former loft no less. Looking at monitors in her father's room, which were hooked to cameras that had been strategically placed to watch over Mohinder Suresh and his work, she catches sight of him, her breath catching in her throat._

_Gabriel...no...no she couldn't call him that anymore. There was Sylar._

_She heads straight for the loft, taking the gun with her as a precautionary measure. _

_She may have loved him, but she didn't trust him...not yet, anyway._

_~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ She shot at him; he had tried to hit her with a gun, so it had only been fair. He runs off and she looks into the loft, where Mohinder was injecting Maya with Claire's healing blood, because apparently Sylar had shot Maya dead (Elle tried not to feel **too **pleased about that.) She hesitates for a moment, before running off after Sylar._

_She runs around a corner to see Sylar using his telekinesis to bring a can into his hands, looking pleased with himself about it, saying "I'm back." So his powers were back then._

_"Hello Gabriel."_

_He whips his head around to look at her._

_She smiles._

_~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ _

_As much as she had tried, exhausting herself in the process, nothing she tried would take away that hunger inside of him. It was so tightly ingrained in him and his original power that it didn't work. She believed there was something missing, that she wasn't seeing, that would take it away, but couldn't figure out what._

_"It's alright...you tried."_

_She looks up at him. He moves from sitting on the floor of the loft, surrounded by beakers and the like, to pull her to him, embracing her. Her eyes close._

_"I'm sorry." she murmurs._

_His grip tightens on her._

_~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ _

_They met Hiro as he sat in the graveyard, with Adam frozen there on the ground. He had been shocked to see them at first and ready to attack, but he slackens suddenly. Looking at Adam with anguished eyes._

_"Just do it," he mutters. "Kill me. I cannot do this anymore."_

_"We're not here to kill you, Hiro," said Sylar. "And we're not going to."_

_"We're here to help," she put in._

_Hiro looks away from them, eyes filled with tears._

_"How? I won't kill him--and I can't let you either. Even though he...but..."_

_"It's not his fault, Hiro," she says softly. "You can blame the person who **made **him try and release the virus; His name is Maury, he can control people and make them do whatever he wants them to do."_

_Hiro looks up, eyes filling with a cautious hope. But he shakes his head._

_"Hiro." Hiro turns away. "Hiro, look at me! Hiro...he loves you. Don't you know that?"_

_Hiro looks up, shocked, shaking his head. "He--he doesn't. He loved **Yaeko**, it's why he hated me; because I betrayed him."_

_"Exactly. You betrayed him. Because you kissed Yaeko. But not because he loved her. I think he cared about her, in the beginning. But I **know **that he loved--loves--you."_

_Behind Hiro, Adam had unfroze from her silent prompting. "She's right, carp."_

_Hiro turns around slowly. "...Kensei?"_

_Adam smiles at him. "I have all along. It's why the betrayal hurt so badly--"_

_~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ _

_Many things happened after that; she (as well as Sylar) hung out with Peter, with Nathan, talked with Hiro and Adam, Mohinder, Matt. She had brought back Isaac and hung out with Claude. She had trained with H.R.G a.k.a Noah Bennet, she had met Claire and Usutu and laughed so hard at something Ando said that she fell off her chair. _

_So many things had happened, before it was all taken away.  
_

_She remembered being called by Angela Petrelli suddenly, telling her that her father had died, he had been killed by a Level 5 escapee named Flint when he was escaping with some other inmates after the power had went off, shutting down the security measures, and Bob had tried to stop him. She felt saddened by the loss, but she also knew what kind of man her father was, the things he had done. Though he was nowhere **near **as bad Angela's husband._

_Angela had called and asked her to come down, saying that she was in charge now and wanted Elle to go over a few things her father had left. Elle had agreed, though Sylar had asked her to be careful, after she had persuaded him to stay and let her go alone. It was just Peter and Nathan's mother after all, so there wasn't anything to be worried about, she had said. _

_The moment she arrived and went into Angela's room, her father's former one, she gets grabbed from behind by the Haitian. Her eyes widen. Angela smiles._

_"I'm sorry, but it has to be done my dear." Angela states. "You are too dangerous to have around; your powers cannot be allowed in the wrong hands. And since I doubt whether or not you can be killed, with your resurrection abilities, then your memories will just have to be removed instead."_

_"No--" she says hoarsely. "Don't--"_

_Angela looked almost sorry, but she nods at the Haitian._

_That was when she forgot everything. And things changed. Not only did **she **forget, but so did everyone else. Apparently the Haitian had put it on so strong that it went through her and affected everything else too. Things changed. And since she did different things than before, things **happened **differently than before. She wasn't there to let Adam and Peter go, instead tried to catch them, she hadn't been there to stop Hiro from putting Adam in the coffin, or to chase after Sylar and catch him, things happened differently._

_She **forgot **everyone. She forgot **Gabriel**._

_~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ _

_That moment at the beach...that changed things. **Again.**_

_He had started using his tk powers on her when he abruptly stopped. It triggered something deep in her, as if what had been needed to jumpstart her brain into remembering everything. She remembered everything and knew that he too remembered, not a moment later._

_They left there soon after, going to the spot where Adam had been killed, resurrecting him, before going to the loft and where she also resurrected Isaac and helped him clean up the loft. She had teleported Claude in and he too remembered, along with Isaac and Adam. He agreed to go to the base in Nevada for her and so now..._

_~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ _

"Here I am." she says softly. She smiles. "Do you remember everything now?"

Hiro nods, unable to speak in that moment.

"I hope Claude gets back soon..." she mutters.

Peter turns towards her, eyes widening. "Claude?"

_~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ _

He types in the last of the sequence in the computer and his eyes widen, taking a few steps back as the screen flashes solid white and becoming so bright that he has to close his eyes; when the light finally gets down to a bearable level, he opens them back up.

"So **you're** Hana Gitelman."

"...and you are?"

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

The final confrontation between Arthur Petrelli, father of Nathan and Peter, husband of Angela, happened at Pinehearst. The Heroes banded together; Hana used her ability to control the security systems and everything other electronic thing in the building, allowing them to get inside. Most of them stayed back, as guards and people with Powers came out to attack them, fighting the villains, allowing the Petrelli's, Sylar, Elle, Adam and Hiro to get further inside.

As they near the door which they knew Arthur was waiting, Knox and Flint come out.

The two swordsman rush at them, with Sylar and Elle, both readying electricity in their hands.

"Go!" They exclaim. "Hurry! Go now!"

Hiro and Adam move on either side as Sylar and Elle blast the two villains with blue electricity.

"Go!" Exclaim Sylar and Elle.

Peter and Nathan rush in, the door flying open. Arthur sat in a chair with his back to them. The brothers walk further in. Peter hurries ahead, while Nathan takes a more cautious approach. Both of them move to walk in front of the chair, eyes widening in shock.

"Dad..." Whispered Peter. "He's..."

"Dead," said Nathan tonelessly, finishing Peter's sentence. "And from the looks of it, he's been there for days."

The sound of the doors behind them gain their attention.

Sylar and Elle stand on either side of the doors, grinning wildly at the brothers.

The shocked visages of Adam and Hiro were clear for a moment before their bodies visibly fall apart into a pile of ashes; Knox and Flint, looking smug, were perfectly unharmed.

"Oh..."drawled Elle, to the shocked brothers. "You really _did _believe all of that stuff, didn't you?"

"We got the old man out of the way ages ago," grinned Sylar. "But it was best to spin you all a web of lies and get everything ready. Rub your faces in the fact that you are gullible and will believe anything you're told. But the real fear hasn't even begun yet."

Elle waves a hand to the stunned pair. "Later."

Sylar, Elle as well as the other two villains teleport away, leaving a pair of stunned brothers in their wake.


End file.
